A teenager who shot a woman in the face with a pellet gun last summer while shooting at passing cars was sentenced Friday to serve two years in prison.

John Green - The Hutchinson News - jgreen@hutchnews.com

Friday

May 22, 2009 at 12:01 AMMay 22, 2009 at 6:00 PM

Jordan Sallee's attorney tried to convince visiting Senior District Court Judge Ronald D. Innes to allow Sallee, who was drunk at the time and had turned 18 five days before the incident, to be placed on probation.

But the victim, who told the judge she's still traumatized by the incident a year later, and prosecutors who argued they'd already agreed to less prison time, won out.

Sallee was accused of firing the pellet gun at passing cars as he hid in bushes in the 1300 block of East 11th Avenue. One of the pellets struck Jessica R. McMahon-Garrett, 30, who was riding as a passenger in a van with her window down, in the right cheek.

Sallee's attorney, Charlie O'Hara, asked Innes to depart from state sentencing guidelines, which called for mandatory prison time, because Sallee was with other teens and had consumed a 40-ounce malt liquor prior to the incident.

"At the time, he had a substance abuse problem and was under the influence of alcohol," O'Hara said. "He's since turned his life around. He went to outpatient treatment and attends AA and NA."

"He's a small man," O'Hara said. "With his physical stature, if you send him to prison for 24 months, I don't see how he'll survive."

Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephen Maxwell noted the state already agreed to a downward durational departure in the case, agreeing to a two-year sentence instead of the 38 to 45 months outlined in state guidelines.

"He was firing a high-powered pellet gun at cars as they drove by," Maxwell said. "It was an intentional act."

A tearful McMahon-Garrett told the judge she was terrified to even ride in a car for several months after the incident and she still has trouble when driving past the area where she was shot.

"I was terrified for my kids and baffled by the blatant disrespect for human life," she said. "You just don't do that. You don't shoot at cars. I might have been killed."

McMahon-Garrett said she underwent at least two surgeries and may face more, and because of a related infection, she's losing hearing in one of her ears. She also had to fight with her insurance company, she said, to recover her lost wages.

"I only got a percentage of it, and I had to take from my retirement and take out loans," she said. "I'm on the verge of losing my house."

"I feel very victimized all over again," she said. "It's almost a year later and its still causing so many ripple effects. I just ask you to put him in prison."

Sallee did offer an apology to the victim and told the court "I can guarantee nothing like this will ever happen again."

While noting he is "mindful that people can change," Innes told Sallee, "This is a totally unprovoked act it's hard to find any excuse for."

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